I just happened to be in the big city (Vancouver, do they get any bigger than that?) and like a smart guy I brought my bike down.  You know, just in case.

Also ran into our old pal Kenny Maude, who has opened up the newest shop on the Shore, Lynn Valley Bikes.

Kenny saw an already overcrowded marketplace, and said to himself, “Me too!”  Good on ya, Kenny.

Also stopped by Wade’s place, and as luck would have it I was just after the Shimano truck showed up.  Can I take any of that off your hands, Mr. Simmons?  Thanks, buddy.  Looks like I’ll have some Saint gear on the new bike when it gets built.

As it was a Friday, it was time for the Chromag ride.  I’m not sure if this is a good idea for the first ride of the year, but when in Rome..(or Squamish).

Mitchell, get outta the shot!

Our mission was to get a little preview of Tedward Shovelhands latest creation, Half-Nelson.  It’s a publicly funded trail in Squamish that Ted has been working on for months.  The grand opening was scheduled for Sunday, but he gave us the go ahead to get an early sample.

Of course, the Chromags had to get stoopid creative on the approach route, so rather than shuttle up to the 19th Hole, we rode in from 20km away.

An interesting choice, especially for that lardass, Yours Truly.

Anyway, it’s a fantastic trail.  Reminds me a lot of Silverstar, but a more technical version.  REALLY deep berms, and you need to know the flow of the trail if you want to avoid pedalling and still get good tranny.

<British Accent>Lush!</British Accent>

So green.  Oh, and we managed to find a place to walk our bikes downhill.

Which led us by this masterpiece.  It was shortly thereafter that I bonked and lost the group.  Which led to an extended loop of trying to find my way back.

Which naturally led me to this frosty cold beverage at Tantalus.  Yup, it’s been 15 years since I started working in Al’s back yard.   What a long strange trip, and it feels like yesterday.